'Bonuses' from GOP tax scam averaged just a penny last year

As a result of the Republican tax scam, American workers saw their bonuses in 2018 increase by — wait for it — $0.01.

According to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) released Monday, the average bonus in 2018 was one penny higher than in 2017. The tax scam was signed into law in December 2017.

“This is not what the tax cutters promised, or bragged about soon after the tax bill passed,” EPI noted in a blog post about their report.

In April 2018, the White House bragged about a “flurry of corporate announcements” regarding bonuses for some workers. But as EPI points out, press releases “do not create widespread bonuses or wage growth for workers.”

While the GOP tax scam left workers out in the cold, Wall Street banks raked in billions and billions of dollars in additional profit. For comparison, one bank, JP Morgan, got a $3.7 billion tax cut from Republicans.

If the windfall Republicans gave just this one bank was used to provide bonuses to every working American, the bonus would have been almost $30 each, or 3,000 pennies.

“Instead of using tax savings to create jobs or boost wages, corporations handed their executives and investors billions by buying back stock and laying off workers,” Ryan Thomas, spokesperson for the Tax March, told Shareblue Media. “While Republicans in Congress and the White House continue to lie to the American people about the economic impact of the GOP’s tax law, the research speaks for itself.”

The news about bonuses comes after a tax season where millions of Americans saw their tax refunds shrink or tax bill skyrocket.

The American public continues to sour on the GOP tax scam. In a new poll, only 33% of the public supports the new law and an overwhelming majority, 62%, believe Trump’s policies “put wealthy people first.”

It’s true that the top one percent of Americans will eventually get more than 80% of the benefits from the tax scam.

While the wealthy celebrate with new yachts and private jets, Republicans helped workers get one whole penny more from bonuses this year.

That seems fair.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.